Inadvertently Festive

In the weeks immediately preceding Christmas it is entirely possible that I consumed nothing of nutritional value. I did eat lots of cookies. And things containing vast quantities of butter. As enjoyable as that is, I always find myself desperately craving vegetables and fruits when I've had too much junk. Back in the day, I used to joke that I was coming down with scurvy and immediately run out and buy a Fresh Samantha to drink. I would lovingly refer to this as scurvy juice.


Sadly, Fresh Samantha is long gone, bought out as most good small companies are, so now I'm left to fend off scurvy on my own. So I ended up craving broccoli soup. Without cream. Broccoli has scads of scurvy-fighting Vitamin C. I found a recipe that is absolutely delicious, easy, and looks marvelously seasonal on my new Christmas tablecloth. The tablecloth, by the way, was hand-embroidered by my great-aunt. Pretty cool, no?


BROCCOLI SOUP (NOT CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP)
From Rosalynn Carter

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
1 pound green broccoli, chopped
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
2.5 C vegetable stock
the juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper
dollop of plain yogurt (optional)

Directions:
In a soup pot, add the oil, onion and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the onion and garlic are soft. Then add the bay, the potato, broccoli and vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender. Remove the bay leaf and let cool a bit. Puree using a blender or immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and reheat a bit if necessary. If you want, serve each bowl with a small dollop of plain yogurt.